Yes, I'm alive and well!

September 15th I moved into my new apartment up in Ruston, WA. It's basically Tacoma, but it's a little town in the north west corner. I really love this area. I live a few blocks from the Zoo, Marina, Waterfront, Grocery Stores, bars, specialty sandwich shops, antique shops, etc. I love it. Not to mention, the view from my apartment is fantastic. I have a 180 of Mt. Rainier, the Puget Sound, Cascade Mountains, Vashon Island, Olympic Mountains, and on less cloudy days I can see the Sea-Tac airport, Des Moines, and Mt. Baker! Who wouldn't want to live here?! Here is the south west view from my home. That's the top 4000' or so of Mt. Rainier. The clouds over it are called Lenticulars.



And here is the sunrise view from my home:



The view on my way to work in the morning:



Last but not least, the morning view from my office:



I have totally been on a knitting hiatus. I found a nice knitting group here that meets at Starbucks just a couple miles away. The ladies are nice, but my schedule has been sort of exhausting and it has been hard to actually go to the meet-ups. I have Christmas knitting ideas, but patterns are stressing me out right now. I never learned to do cable (sad, right?), and dropping stitches on purpose scare me. Maybe I should just get my ass in gear. I haven't been to a single yarn shop since I moved here. I've been so good. I haven't even been to a craft store. (!!!!)

Back in July I got my nose pierced. I'm in love with it. I've been told before that "A nose ring just wouldn't look right on you. It's not you." Well, fuck you. I like it. :)



I've been reading quite a bit. Recently I bought Three Cups of Tea and You Suck.

Last night I saw a commercial (yes, I got TV for a couple months) encouraging people to support the SPCA. I'm not one to usually cry at the television, but the commercial tore my heart up. I can't find the commercial online anywhere to show you though. I'm thinking of adopting a cat sooner than later. I'm not sure how Jasper will like it since he's so darn spoiled.
















All of my NY knitting gals went to Rhinebeck last weekend. I'm so sad I wasn't able to go. I just couldn't afford the flight and the time off without pay. Next year, I am DEFINITELY going. I'll be buying my flight in the spring to make sure I actually DO go.

Things are looking up here in WA. I miss my friends at home, of course, but I'm doing okay. Thank you for all of your support!

Coming to NY for this weekend.

As some of you know, Grandpa Art passed away at the age of 82. His memorial service will be this Saturday, so I am coming back to NY for a few days.

I will be arriving in NY tomorrow 09.19.08 at 630pm and I am leaving at 7am Tuesday 09.23.08. I will have some free time here and there, so if you want to get together please let me know. Please note, I will not have a car while I am home.

For those of you who are free Sunday evening.... There will be a get together at Erin's house on Columbus Ave in Westcott!! The party will start around 6pm and only go until 10pm since most of you will have to work in the morning. I'm asking for everyone to bring something yummy to eat and BYOB. I'm hoping for a decent turn out since I won't be in NY again probably until Spring 09 or after. Please RSVP to me and let me know if you're thinking of stopping by. I will send Erin's address when you RSVP.

I love you all. I will see you soon.
xoxo

Back to Neurosurgery?

I've been in WA 1 full month today! Yay!

Well.... I did it. I finally got a job! A little patience and a LOT of time, and I scored a good gig. I'll be working at South Sound Neurosurgery! I originally applied for one position and had 2 great interviews, but I wasn't qualified enough for it I guess. The manager called me today and offered me another position that they created for me. I'll basically be learning everyone else's positions so I can cover when needed, but still have my own stuff to do there. The pay is good. The benefits are great. I can bike to work (YAY!!!!!).

Now, all I have to do is get out of my house.... More updates on THAT situation soon!

Yesterday my buddy Tyson and I went for a drive out to the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie and Wenatachee National Forests. The day was AMAZING. When I upload photos, I will try to post a few here. I hadn't been out to the mountains since I moved here. For anyone out in this direction, I highly recommend roaming the mountains. It's SO beautiful! On the way home we stopped in Cle Elum for some authentic Mexican food, then we stopped at the Snoqualmie Falls for one last look at nature before returning to the big city. What a great day.

The weather here has been gorgeous. And, on that note, I'm off to Point Defiance for some sun and R+R!

The laziest blogger ever...

So I'm not MIA. I'm still here. Here's a quick update.

June 5th I moved from NY to Tacoma Washington. 3000 miles in 2 days and 18 hours. EEEK. It was fun though. I'm not settled in yet, unfortunately. The house I moved into is being remodeled. It was supposed to be completed before I moved in, but that didn't happen. Then the landlord said the downstairs would be done the week I got there. That didn't happen either. Needless to say, I'm not very happy right now. I'm finishing my 4th week here and I'm still living out of boxes and sleeping on the couch. If things don't get better in the next few weeks I'm going to have to re-think the living situation out here. I'm still job hunting. The job market isn't that great right now, just like every other city. Hopefully I will know on Monday if I got a waitressing job. If not, I might go crazy. Seriously.

I miss my friends and family dearly, but I know that this move is what I needed to do. I needed to get out of my comfort zone and try something new. I've met some amazing people since I've moved here, and I'm sure that will only get better too. I did meet some weirdos, but I just don't talk to them anymore. I'm being completely picky out here, and I have a right to!

I should be back to normal blogging, or at least a try at it again, after Wednesday. I will be getting internet at home so hopefully I'll be back on track!!

Hope all is well with everyone.

All that is wrong with this world....

.Begin Rant.

So I was on My Space just now, and this **lovely** advertisement pops up:



Seriously? What the hell is wrong with people? Yes. I am fat. I don't need a god damn advertisement and QUIZ to tell me this!

.End Rant.

Over it.

So I caught the NY flu that has been going around. It was ungodly AWFUL!!! You spend 2 weeks feeling like death is moments away, then another 1-2 weeks trying to just feel better. I *still* have a bit of a sore throat, but I'm hoping to get over that.

I feel like sharing some awesome links I have found recently. Maybe I will do this on a lot of my upcoming posts. I love to share with you all what is going through this strange brain of mine!!

• 10 Strategies for Better Sleep

• Treatment for Cat Hairballs. Or, if you have a cat like mine- wait 2 weeks until he starts aspirating into his lungs, even after going to the vet and spending $200. All of a sudden, he will be all better with no help from humans.... :: sigh ::

• This woman had a 10 pound hairball removed... EEEK.

• Free money is always a good thing.

• Anyone want a "Vagina Couch"???!!!

• Toilet Paper Holders for awesome people like me.

• Individual Cup Cake Holders are a genius invention!

On a quest to finally blog like a normal person.

Ugh I feel like poo! Erin, along with everyone else in CNY, gave me the flu. Thanks guys!!!!

So my birthday came and went (January 22nd). Erin, Lee, and I went to the Rosamond Gifford Zoo for some animal fun! It was quite cold and no one was there. I love going to the zoo when it's empty because no one is bumping into you because you're taking too long to look at the animals. I really love the zoo!

Lately I've been doing quite a bit of knitting. I finished a scarf for James for Christmas, and socks for Mom for Christmas.





I've also made a Calorimetry for myself, a scarf for myself, and now I'm working on a pair of socks out of some lovely Mountain Colors Bearfoot, colorwave: Thunderhead. Pictures are on their way! I'm really trying to work through my stash of yarn seeing as how I have several giant Rubbermaid totes FULL of it. I have a ton of roving, too, and I don't even spin!

So I have made the decision on moving to Seattle, Washington. Right now I'm looking at leaving mid-June. Hopefully by then I will have the funds to do this. I have a bit saved up, but it's not enough yet. The first week of April I am flying out there to have a couple of interviews, explore the neighborhoods, and look at some sublets that will be open. I hope this all works out.

On knitting and being alive and such....

I AM ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

RHINEBECK IS TOMORROW!!!! Is anyone else going???

I've signed up for Ravelry. I am #33256 on the list.... only 1898 people ahead of me before I am accepted to the site. How awesome is this?

So yeah. I am making a point to never "back blog" again. I think that is where my anxiety with blogging is happening. I get so far behind, then I don't want to catch up because there would be so much to do. As a quickie, here is a list of stuff I have done since my last blog:

June 22-24 Went to visit Erin in Toronto. We went to the Toronto Zoo, Romni Wools, Lettuce Knit, and had some sushi.


June 28 - July 3 Liz and John came up from Hollywood Florida for a little week long visit. We went to the Dinosaur BBQ for dinner one night with her mom and Bill.

We also went to Ichiban for sushi!!

John and Liz:


July 4 We had a little shindig at Mark's house. I made awesome sandwiches. They were definitely not for vegetarians.


July 7 Renaissance Festival in Sterling, NY.


July 20-22 Back to Toronto to see Erin again. Brought her mom up this time. Got to play with the Rhinos too.



July 27-29 Camping at Cayuga Lake State Park in Seneca Falls, NY, with Erin, Lisa, and Mark.


August 3-5 Erin and I went to the Belleayre Music Festival in the Catskill Mountains of NY. We stayed at Woodland Valley State Park. Artists featured at the show are some of the Hotel Cafe Artists. Some of the ones that we saw include: Ingrid Michaelson, Priscilla Ahn, Cary Brothers, Rocco Deluca & The Burden, Rachael Yamagata, Meiko, Jay Nash, Buddy, Kate Havnevik, Tom Mcrae, Jim Bianco, and Greg Laswell. I think I got them all. If not, my apologies.

It was a pretty awesome trip with Erin.


August 20-22 I went to Jennings, Louisiana to visit with my friend Scott. We mostly just relaxed. I also got to hold a baby gator!



September 14 I had a party. Whoot! Whoot! This is a picture of Lisa, Chris, Dave and me.


September 28-30 I camped at Wellesley Island State Park with Mark and Lisa.



That brings me up to October at least. I haven't uploaded anything from October to Flickr yet. For more pictures, just check out my Flickr site. :)

On an off note... today is my brother Ben's birthday. He is 28. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEN!!! (He doesn't read my blog though.)

Off to Wegmans. I really feel bad for those of you who don't know what Wegmans is.